USA Today: Evangelicals’ Victories and Defeats in Trump’s First Year

USA Today: Evangelicals’ Victories and Defeats in Trump’s First Year

Trump announces Neil Gorsuch as his nominee to the Supreme Court, a victory for Evangelicals.

CRCC in the News

USA Today: Evangelicals’ Victories and Defeats in Trump’s First Year

Posted January 19, 2018

Reading Time 1 minute

Conservative Christians have had unprecedented access to the White House and won many political victories under the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency, USA Today reported. At the same time, they may have lost moral standing, CRCC’s Richard Flory said in the conclusion of the story:

And some have argued Christian conservatives — particularly religious leaders who have publicly praised Trump — could pay a steep price for the policy changes they’ve been getting.

“I think their reputation took a huge hit,” said Richard Flory, senior director of research and evaluation at the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture. After years of framing their opposition to politicians — such as the Clintons — in moral terms, religious leaders ignored things they might not like about Trump’s character, he said.

“Essentially, they were being political over religious,” he said. “That’s the message I think most people are seeing now.”